


Writing Prompt - Cry of the Last Unicorn

by ComfyDreamer



Category: Original Work
Genre: Inspired by Music, Writing Exercise, galante hates all instruments, i need more sleep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-18 08:00:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14848850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ComfyDreamer/pseuds/ComfyDreamer
Summary: A writing prompt that I cooked up when I was bored one day.An interpretation of the short story provided by a great song I played in Band: Rossano Galante'sCry of the Last Unicorn.





	Writing Prompt - Cry of the Last Unicorn

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to Rossano Galante for writing such an incredible piece. It was pure hell for me and the band to play this, but totally worth it in the end.
> 
> No but seriously, this is an amazing piece. Listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oybrb-7jKDk

_A unicorn stands over its mother who has been mortally speared by hunters. The unicorn realizes it is the last of its kind as it mourns its mother. The unicorn senses the same fate. Discovered! The unicorn runs, chased by hunters. At the end of the wild chase, the unicorn is speared by hunters who want its mystical horn. The horses of the forest, worshipping the unicorn, gather and trample the hunters, killing all. The hunters gather around the unicorn in a reverent circle as it passes away._

___\- Cry of the Last Unicorn, notes on the conductor’s score_ _ _

 

 

The unicorn took deep, shaky breaths as it beheld the gruesome scene laid before its eyes. Once a majestic creature, the broken husk sprawled on the ground before it was almost indistinguishable from the grand beast it had been mere hours before. The dying unicorn had numerous broken spears protruding from its body, and its silver blood trickled through the grass like rivers of shattered diamond. A bleeding stump was all that remained where its horn used to be.

The fallen beast wheezed painfully. Its eyes were glassy and its breathing was labored. It was evident that it didn’t have a lot of time left.

The unicorn gently lowered its head to nuzzle the fallen creature, wishing to provide its mother comfort during her last living moments. The mother unicorn gave out a quiet rasp as she returned the gesture with the same warmth that she had always showed her child. But before the unicorn knew it, her eyes flickered out for the last time as she went slack.

A single, gleaming tear fell from the unicorn’s eye as it knelt morosely before the corpse, determined to pay its respects to the one that had raised it for so long. With a growing sense of dread, the unicorn recalled something its mother had told it - how that they were the last of their species. If that was indeed true, then the unicorn realized that it was, indeed, the last unicorn on the planet.

They recalled a nostalgic memory, back when the unicorns lived in peace and solitude. Unfortunately, that had been reduced to a feeling of wistful longing. The humans had struck out of nowhere, armed to the teeth with tools designed to maim and kill. They slaughtered unicorns in their hundreds, for seemingly no other reason than to seize their horns. Within months, the remaining unicorns had been forced into hiding, their species almost driven extinct within that short time.

A chill ran down the unicorn’s spine. The hunters had came for their mother. It wasn’t too far-fetched to assume that they would come for them next. With a feeling of growing urgency, the unicorn realized that it had to run.

_THUNK!_

The spear that impaled itself into the nearest tree signified that their assumption was correct.

The unicorn turned tail and fled like the wind, disappearing into the moonlit forest. Behind it trailed about two dozen hunters armed with spears and crossbows, hell-bent on securing its mystical horn for themselves. They were unaware of the extinction their actions were about to cause - but in all fairness, they were unlikely to stop even if they knew what their actions would entail.

 

The unicorn burst into a small clearing, only for two crossbow bolts to whizz over its head. It whinnied in surprise and bolted in another direction, only to find itself confronted with another hunter, who charged it with a metal blade. The unicorn, forced to use violence for once in its life, dashed at the man, impaling him with its sharp horn before tossing the lifeless corpse aside. Two more hunters threw spears, which missed and shattered against the rocky earth as their target dashed away.

The unicorn ran. It ran faster than the wind itself. Ran until its legs felt like melting off. The hunters were slower than it, but greater in number and _immensely_ persistent. The unicorn could barely even find a second where the tell-tale whooshing of crossbow bolts didn’t follow its every gallop. As a hunter concealed within the brush suddenly leapt at it with a knife, the unicorn instinctively kicked out with its forelegs, instantly shattering most of his skeleton. As its assailant crumpled to the floor, another spear barely missed the top of its horn. About ten hunters suddenly surrounded it, forcing the unicorn to make a mad dash through their lines, plowing through the men and skewering those foolish enough to get in its way. It yelped in pain as it felt crossbow bolts tear into its hind legs, sending red-hot pain coursing through its entire body.

Galloping until its legs were about to disintegrate under the stress, the wounded unicorn burst into an open field, its legs streaming silver blood. Gasping, it looked up at the full moon shining upon it - and instinctively began to weep.

It cried for its mother and all of its kind that the humans had murdered. It cried for its own pain and the predicament it was in. Most of all, it cried to mourn the fact that it was now alone in the world.

Its tears were suddenly and violently cut off by a spear that tore into its right eye.

The unicorn shrieked in pain as agony shot through its body again, blood pouring from the wound the spear had inflicted. All around it, hunters circled the mythical beast and unloaded all of their spears and bolts into it, transforming it into a gory pincushion. No longer able to feel pain, the unicorn stumbled around pitifully, its vision marred by its own blood. Amidst the gruesome sounds of its bones breaking and its flesh being torn asunder, the unicorn could have sworn that it heard its mother’s voice.

With a final, decisive throw, one of the hunters hurled a spear directly into its chest and straight into its heart, destroying the vital organ instantly. As the unicorn collapsed to the ground, its blurry vision seemed to falter and warp. Suddenly, it could see shadowy outlines of the other unicorns - smiling sadly and beckoning it to join them.

Even in the embrace of death, the unicorn managed a small smile. Now that it was no longer alone in the world, it had one less thing to mourn.

And with that last thought lingering in its mind, the last unicorn let out a sorrowful, resounding cry. The cry of the last unicorn echoed throughout the forest to signify that the unicorn was about to vanish off the face of the planet.

 

The hunters panted, having chased their quarry for almost an hour now. But now it was finally over. The unicorn had fallen, and it was now time to get what they had been looking for - its mystical horn, rumored to have incredible magical properties.

As they prepared to remove the horn, there was a chorus of whinnies as about two dozen horses slowly emerged from the forest gloom. The hunters turned around and stared while the horses stared back. Noticing the dying unicorn and the hunters standing over it, the horses put two and two together and exploded.

Every horse that now stood before the hunters reared their heads and unleashed a collective shriek - a terrifying sound that radiated with despair, hate, and righteous fury. As the hunters shouted and raised their weapons, the horses of the forest ran straight into the murderers of their leader, hell-bent on avenging them.

The minutes that followed were an absolute bloodbath. The hunters swing their blades and fired their crossbows wildly as the equestrian horde tore into them. Hooves that had once only trodden on unsullied earth now kicked and trampled, crushing bones and flesh alike. 

Against such a fervor, the hunters stood no chance. By the end of the skirmish, not a single one had escaped the forest alive.

The victorious horses stood amidst a disgusting landscape of blood and crushed bodies. Their victory was not an ideal one - more than three-quarters of the horses had perished by the hunters’ counterattacks. The few remaining ones slowly walked over to the dying unicorn and gazed upon their last remaining leader in disbelief and despair.

The unicorn took shallow, rasping breaths as it wheezed painfully. Its eyes were glassy and its breathing was labored. It was evident that it didn’t have a lot of time left.

The horses gently lowered their head to nuzzle the fallen creature, wishing to provide it comfort during its last living moments. The unicorn gave out a quiet rasp as it returned the gesture with the same warmth that it had always showed its followers. But before the horses knew it, its eyes flickered out for the last time as its body went slack.

The horses gathered in a reverent circle as the last unicorn passed away, their mourning cries reverberating through the night sky in a despairing chorus.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Approximate time taken to write: 40 minutes to 1 hour


End file.
